POSSESSION.

I. Possessions are expressed in French by the proposition de (for contractions with de, click here).
   REMEMBER: that 's does not exist in French!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Examples:
la maison de ma mère. ---- my mother's house (the house of my mother, etc.).
la maison de la fille.--------the girl's house. (the house of the girl).
le livre d'Henry------------ Henry's book (the book of Henry, etc.*).
les souliers du garçon.----- The boy's shoes.
les voitures des hommes.-- the men's cars.
la voiture de l'homme ----- the man's car.

* With proper nouns (names) French as English uses only "de," thus: le petit ami de Maria.

Note: De is repeated before each noun! Les maison de Marie, de Jean et de Marc.

II. The verb être à means "to belong to" and this, also, shows possession. (for contractions with à click here).

Examples:
1. Ce compteur est à moi -- That computer belongs to me!
2. Le livre est au garçon ---- The book belongs to the boy!
3. La maison est à Marc, à Maria et à mes parents. The house belongs to Marc, Maria and my parents.
 

Note: As with "de," "à" is repeated before each noun see examples 3 above!)

II. In order to form a question with être à, use à qui:

Exampels:

1. A qui est cette voiture? Whose car is this? (Whom does this car belong to?)
2. A qui sont ces livres?     Whose books are they? (Whom do those books belong to?)

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The possessive adjective.

The possessives adjectives in English are:

        my, your, his/her/its
        our, your (pl), their.

Now, let's make it clear that there is no word for it(s) in French; that then boils it down to
        my, your, his/her/its (there is no difference in French between his/her/it--
                                             the noun determines which form this poss.adj. takes),

Adjectives in French agree with the noun , or pronoun, in gender (masc./plural) and number.
That makes it just a little more complicated for us.
The possessive adjective "my" can be three things:
     mon (before a masculine singular noun)
     ma   (before a feminine singular noun)
     mes (before a plural noun).

Here are the possessive adjectives (memorize them, it's easy!)

The possessive adjectives ma, ta, sa become mon, ton, son before a vowel or an "h."
(It's easier to pronounce that way!!)

Thus: Ma étudiante s'appelle Michelle = Mon étudiante s'appelle Michelle

Here are some sentence which illustrate the use of the possessive adjectives:
Be aware that it all depends on the noun as to what form the possessive adjective takes!!)

A. My, your (fam), his/her:

1.  Ma mère est malade. (fem.sign.) -  My mother is sick.
     Ta mère est malade. (fem.sign.) -   Your mother is sick.
     Sa mère est malade. (fem.sign.) -    His/her mother is sick.

2   Mon père est malade. (fem.sign.) -   My father is sick.
     Ton  père est malade. (fem.sign.) -   Your father is sick.
     Son père est malade. (fem.sign.) -    His/her father is sick

3. Mes chiens sont heureux (plural) - My dogs are happy
    Tes chiens sont heureux (plural)   - Your dogs are happy
    Ses chiens sont heureux (plural)   - His/her dogs are happy

B. Our, your, their

1a.  Notre maison est jaune (fem.sing) -  Our house is yellow.
       Votre maison est jaune (fem.sing) -  Your house is yellow.
       Leur maison est jaune (fem.sing) -   Their house is yellow.

1b.Notre jardin est petit (masc.sing) -  Our garden is small..
     Votre jardin est petit (masc.sing) -  Your garden is small..
     Leur jardin est petit (masc.sing)  -  Their garden is small.

2. Nos chiens sont heureux (plural)  -   Our dogs are happy
    Vos chiens sont heureux (plural)  -   Your dogs are happy
    Leurs chiens sont heureux (pural) - Their dogs are happy.